London Records arose in the 1940s from the split in ownership between the British branch of Decca and that same company's USA branch. Since British Decca could not use the Decca name in North America, it used the "London" label and logo to release records mastered by Decca (UK) recordings for USA only. Note: Most (if not all) USA pressings from 1950 to the mid 1970's say "Made in England" on bottom edge of label notating origin of original recording while being pressed in the USA. These USA issues have an inverted matrix (master) release # above the USA release # that corresponds to the original "Decca" tapes.
In the UK, the London label focused on pop music under the aegis of Roger Ames, while the Decca Record Company Limited operated as a separate company with its US releases re-branded with the London name. Decca was eventually acquired by PolyGram.
In 1999, the MCA and PolyGram families merged to form Universal Music Group, and in 2000 Roger Ames was hired to run Warner Music. The Decca name could be used worldwide by Universal after the merger. Ames was awarded London as part of a severance package and took it to WEA worldwide. In the US, the imprint was merged with Sire Records Group to form London-Sire Records, which existed until 2003. In the UK, The company was renamed London Records 90 Ltd. to distinguish it from the Decca Label Group. Ames later sold the London Records 90 Ltd to Warner Music.
In 2010, Universal Music reclaimed ownership of the London Records trade mark. On July 1, 2011 Universal Music reclaimed the London Records name and relaunched it under the executive team of Nick Raphael (President) and later Jo Charrington (Senior Vice President of A&R) who together previously ran Epic Records for Sony Music Entertainment since 2001. Both had started their careers at London Records in the Ames era in the 1990s.
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